


Game On

by AgentCoop



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga), どうぶつの森 | Animal Crossing Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Awkward Flirting, Crack Crossover, M/M, Meet-Cute, New York City, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24098722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentCoop/pseuds/AgentCoop
Summary: Max has a favorite dive bar in NYC. Ash hates it, but puts up with it just for the chance to be near Max...until he realizes that Max also has a new favorite friend in NYC.And Ash isn't about to let that go.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	Game On

**Author's Note:**

> First off. DO NOT READ until you look at the very-much-human artwork of Tom Nook that [Salmon](http://twitter.com/sushisalmon95)  
> did, found [HERE](https://twitter.com/sushisalmon95/status/1258344305552265216)  
> Did you look?
> 
> Okay, now you can read :) :) :)

The bar sat on the corner of Amsterdam and 96th–just across the street from the west side of Central Park. It was out of their way, it was always full of old people reliving their youth, and– as the Whole Foods that was adjacent indicated–as far as dive bars go, it wasn’t even remotely disreputable.

Ash had hated the place since the first time Max dragged him in over a year ago, but Max was nuts about it, so he allowed himself to be dragged along for their bi-montly ‘date’ of sorts.

The drinks were good, the prices were better, and though Max had a knack for finding the kitchiest shit imaginable, Ash sucked it up.

Being near Max was worth it.

_**Nook Inc. Island Getaways** _

The letters flashed in garish orange and yellow, and in the window of the first floor, there were an array of god-awful Hawaiian souvenir shirts, each one brighter than the next.

Max was wearing khakis and a black t-shirt.

Ash was wearing jeans, and a red and black striped sweater.

Neither of them were wearing island garb.

“Incredible they’re kind enough to let us through the door,” Ash muttered sarcastically, ignoring the way Max glared down at him.

“Just deal, kid. I go to your underground club shows, you can come out to a bar with me every once and awhile.”

“One show,” Ash said, throwing up his hands as the bouncer checked his ID. “It was one! And it wasn’t a club, it was an indie bar that’s hosted some of the most legendary bands ever. Nirvana fucking played there!”

“Mmhmm,” Max said, pulling Ash down the stairs to the bar area. “It’s cute that they still card you.”

He flashed a smile at Ash, and Ash was more than willing to just let the matter drop and bask in the warmth of Max’s attention.

Which was idiotic. He’d been in love with Max Glenreed for longer than he could remember and Max was too stupid to realize it.

For some reason, Ash still stuck around…

The alluring, dulcet tones of Jimmy Buffet were coming through the speaker system, because the alluring, dulcet tones of Jimmy Buffet were _always_ coming through the speaker system, because whoever owned this bar was either 70, or a fucking asshole.

Ash let Max order them drinks though, and once he was sipping at his mojito in the Cuban Hardball glass with the real sugar cane poking out while, he allowed himself to admit (not out loud of course) that the place did make damn good drinks.

They were halfway through a conversation about virtual gaming experiences and how to involve all five senses (the subject of Ash’s very lengthy and very obscure dissertation) when Max looked up, smile growing on his face.

“What?” Ash asked, sipping at his drink again.

“Oh! I met a guy here a couple weeks back. Seems to be one of the regulars, kind of like me. He’s cool, he’s fun to chat with, and he’s over there!” Max waved, then beckoned with his hand, and Ash suddenly felt the urge to beat the crap out of someone.

“You met a guy?” He asked instead, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.

“Oh! Nothing like that. Just a friend. You’d like him!”

Considering the dude was decked in a teal and yellow Aloha shirt that matched the ones in the window out front, and the ones hanging all around the tiki bar, Ash highly doubted that.

Unfortunately, tacky-as-fuck dude was heading over, smile bright on his darkly tanned and freckled face.

“Hey, Max!” he called out, and then they hugged.

Yeah. Ash _very much_ did not like him.

“Hey!” Max said, equally excited. “Ash! This is Tom. Tom, Ash.”

“Ahh, this your kid brother?” Tom asked.

Max burst out laughing. “Hardly. He’s a good friend. A great friend.” He wrapped an arm around Ash’s shoulders and pulled him in quick, then let go again.

A gesture of friendship.

Ash wanted to cry.

‘Tom’ held out a hand, and Ash was forced to shake it. “Hey…” he said, nose wrinkling.

“He doesn’t trust me,” Tom said to Max.

“Eh, he’s squirrely around new folks,” Max said back, and then they both laughed.

“He’s also sitting right here,” Ash muttered.

Tom flashed him another bright smile, then pulled up a chair and sat down between them.

“You like this bar?”

“Uh...I don’t know who the fuck names a bar Island Getaway, but I guess it’s fine.”

“Oh!” Tom laughed. “I did!”

“Uh…” Somewhere under the table, Max’s knee bumped into Ash’s. “What?”

“I did! I’m Tom Nook. I own the place.”

Ash looked at Max who only gave him a tiny shrug that entirely possibly could mean _I had no idea that this dude owned the bar_ , or entirely possibly could mean _yup, I knew, and I was just waiting to make you feel like a complete idiot_. Ash could feel himself flushing as Max and Tom laughed and he was suddenly extremely unsure whether this was the punchline to a joke, or if Tom was legitimately the owner of a dive bar in the middle of New York City that had tiki torches all along the bar, and fake palm trees in every corner. “You’re serious?”

“Yup! So what'd ya do, Ash?”

Max nudged him again with his knee, and Ash decided he was going to drop it and just play nice as long as he could. “I’m a student at Columbia. Doctoral student,” he clarified.

“Cool! What are you studying?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Ash,” Max butted in. “It’s actually pretty cool. He’s getting his doctorate in Emerging Media Studies. Basically...the stories behind games. Video games. Studying them.”

“No way!” Tom exclaimed. “I didn’t think that was a thing! Super cool.”

“Super,” Ash said.

“It is!” Max agreed. “He’s working on some immersive virtual reality experience. Ash, you should tell him all about it!”

“Yeah...actually...I need another drink–”

“Got it!” Tom said, standing up so fast the bar stool almost fell over. “What do you want? It’s on me!”

 _You to get out of here_ , Ash thought, but he just forced a smile. “Whiskey. Straight.”

“You got it!”

Tom bounced over to the bar, happy as can be.

“He’s cool, right?” Max asked immediately.

“Uh...I haven’t really gotten a chance to know him?”

“Well, he is. Super friendly guy. Not entirely sure what it is he does…”

“Clearly you know him well.”

“Okay, I don’t know him that well, but he’s a nice guy, he’s got a degree in business management from NYU so he’s not an idiot, he owns an entire bar, and he actually really loves to read, so you guys might have a few things in common.”

“And he wears Hawaiian shirts, listens to Jimmy Buffet without flinching, and _owns a fucking entire bar_ , so we might have a few things not in common also…”

Max rolled his eyes. “Fair enough. But I think if you gave him a chance, you guys might hit it off. Try? For me?”

There it was. It was moments like this that Ash was 100% certain Max knew how he felt, and was just leading him on.

He was helpless against it though. “Alright, I’ll try harder.”

Max reached across the table and grabbed Ash’s hand, squeezing tight. “Thank you.”

Then there were moments like that where Ash’s heart beat a little faster, and his throat got a little tighter, and Max’s blue eyes shined a little brighter.

_Fuck._

Tom came back with the drinks–Ash’s whiskey, Max’s beer, and some sort of sugary, fruity looking concoction for himself–then sat back down next to Ash.

“So I know Max is a runner–we were talking about running the marathon together this coming winter! You a runner also?”

Ash managed a small laugh. “I hate running. Despise it. And I think Max is an insane person for doing it. You run too?”

“Every morning! Family genetics kind of suck...by the time I’m forty I’ll end up looking like my dad with a giant gut so I’m just doing everything I can to avoid it now.” He winked, and Ash suddenly noticed that he had blue eyes too–just a little darker than Max’s–and a smattering of freckles across his nose.

He was cute.

Ash hated him.

 _Do it for Max_ , his brain urged, so he forced another smile. “And Max said you had a degree from NYU?”

“Oh! Yeah. Graduated in what…’12? With my Masters. Fuck, I’ll be thirty in in a month–”

“Ancient,” Max drawled.

“Not as ancient as you, my 32 year old friend,” Tom returned with a sly grin.

“And Ash is just the baby.”

Exactly what Ash enjoyed being referred to as.

“When will you graduate, Ash?” Tom asked.

“I’m in the second year of my doctorate. Thesis is next year. So hopefully, by July next year.”

“Sweet.”

They continued the banter for a little longer, they had another round of drinks, at some point Ash got just drunk enough that he found himself giving a long diatribe about the virtues of Hemingway despite his misogyny, and at some point he found Tom agreeing with him, and before he knew it, he realized that Max might be right, he might actually like this guy, and _that_ was all-fucking-caps NOT OKAY.

He checked his phone and was shocked to realize it was already pushing midnight. “Hey, Max? I gotta get going…”

Max grabbed his phone also and winced at the screen. “Shit, yeah. Got work in the morning.” He threw back the last of his beer and stood, looking at Ash. “Bathroom first. Then we’ll head out?”

“Cool,” Ash replied.

He watched Max weave over to the hallway restrooms, then turned back to Tom who was watching him with a rather pointed stare.

“So. You guys together?” he asked.

Ash could feel his cheeks reddening and he had to try very hard not to clench his fists. “Not...really.”

“But you want to be?”

“Look,” Ash said. “Back off. You’ve known him what...2 weeks?” I’ve known him since I was five.”

“Creepy.”

“He was best friends with my brother, idiot.”

“Still creepy.”

Ash glared, and Tom smiled right back.

“You know I’m just messin’ with you, right?”

Ash bit his lower lip, and looked over to the restrooms, wishing Max would just come back already.

“But he’s definitely a keeper,” Tom mused.

Finally, Max came around the corner, walking towards them and grinning. The light from the bar caught in his hair, making it glow redder than it usually was. The black t-shirt was just tight enough that Ash could see the muscles in his upper arms in their full glory. He was smart, he was funny, he was handsomer than hell, and Ash would never stop wanting him.

Tom nudged Ash, also watching as Max approached. “May the best man win?” He asked quietly.

Ash looked back at him. “Game. On.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case you read this and thought 'GOD DAMN I NEED TO FOLLOW THIS AUTHOR FOR ALL OF MY MAX/ASH/TOM NOOK NEEDS'
> 
> You can. Right [HERE](http://twitter.com/agentcoop1)  
> 


End file.
